Lead generation is the lifeblood of any business. Without generating leads, it will be impossible to grow your business. It is because you are not getting new customers to keep streams of revenues coming.
There are two ways to grow businesses:
- Get more money from existing customers
- Get new customers
If you run a small business, you can benefit a lot from launching an online lead generation campaign powered by a lead generation company.
How do you know that you should get a lead generation service? Consider the following.
Your company is new.
If you are running a startup, chances are your funds are stretched for the interim, and you are still in the stage of hiring staff members and acquiring new tools and technology.
So, as a startup, you are still inept to put in place a lead generation system. Such is a complex system that requires funding and specialized frameworks.
Outsourcing lead generation, for the time being, may be the smartest decision to make. The service will free up your time to enable you to focus on other core business processes and grow your startup fast.
Infrequent sales meetings.
Are there several unmarked gaps on your sales calendar? Several unmarked dates indicate your lead generation strategies are unproductive, or you fail to set up appointments for your sales team.
Look for ways to expand your prospects or hire an external vendor to do these tasks for you. It may take a while to see results, but such an investment will pay off in a short time.
Such a service can help through various ways of getting high-quality leads, such as:
- Connecting with the right people (the decision-makers in the companies you should target)
- Offering resourceful lead magnets (a lead magnet can be anything from DIY cheat sheets and checklists to how-to guides)
- Leverage influencers in your niche (influencers can help you achieve goals in different aspects – sales, reputation, reach, brand awareness, etc.)
- Run personalized lead-generation campaigns (use personalization in your campaigns to capture and nurture high-quality leads)
To generate more sales appointments, use software that provides lead generation systems, such as online scheduling and automatic sending of appointment confirmation and reminder emails.
The lead generation budget is limited.
There are many channels through which you can boost your business’s exposure. However, no matter the type of advertising you use, you still need to check your lead acquisition cost.
Is the cost reasonable enough for you to continue generating leads all by yourself?
If you look at various options, you will find the average cost to be between $200 and $300 across service providers. In contrast, companies that do not use such services may spend thousands of dollars to acquire one lead.
Cost-wise, it is, therefore, logical to hire an agency to do all the dirty work, allowing you to maximize your lead generation efforts without being burdensome on the budget.
You are expanding your geographic reach.
Another reason you need to hire a lead generation agency is when you are planning to expand your business to another location. The challenges you will face include learning the local language of a new audience and the difference in business etiquette and culture.
Such challenges will be easy to handle by a lead generation agency. They can help you customize a marketing plan suitable for new audiences to target.
Prospects cease to engage with you.
According to marketing research, an average of 50% of leads is not ready to buy, but nurtured leads are 47% likelier to make large purchases than non-nurtured leads.
Remember that the marketplace is buyer-driven, which means that you need to nurture buyer relationships to make potential customers stick with you.
Lead nurturing strategies you can use include:
- Using multiple channels to educate your target audience about your products
- Identifying your buyer persona and preparing marketing material that will appeal to your audience
- Align your marketing and sales teams concerning the goals and objectives they are trying to achieve
Low open rates due to dirty data.
Dirty data is one of the headaches of many companies. Check your CRM for possible outdated information, and make sure to track your lead generation efforts. This part of your business is very important because it is the one that provides information on your ROI.
Check your email lists. Many lead generation services provide low-quality and untargeted listings that put campaign efforts to waste.
Email lists are a great way to improve lead generation, but the quality of lists plays a role in the success of email lead generation campaigns. Make sure you only transact with a reputable data provider.
High bounce rate due to poor content and SEO marketing.
If you fail to drive traffic to your website, it is either that you have poor content on your site. Another reason is the failure to leverage search engine optimization.
Whatever is the reason for your high-bounce rates, you can correct it with the help of a competent lead generation service provider. The agency will help you with producing and structuring relevant and informative content.
Check your existing content. Is it outdated and needing updating? Is it keyword optimized for SEO and driving organic traffic? Without completely overhauling your content, your target audience will not find you, your website, and your products online.
Remember to post new content regularly. There is no way that your visitors will come back and engage with you if they read the same content every time they browse your site.
More importantly, listen to the voice of your audience and plan your content accordingly. Provide answers to their questions and educate them with fresh ideas all the time.
Your in-house marketing team is overworked.
When your marketing is overwhelmed with many tasks, their competency and productiveness are affected. That will eventually result in sales falling flat and the inability to nurture leads. Poor work performance, frustrating customer feedback, and absenteeism are signs that your team is overworked.
Outsourcing some of your tasks and processes might be the best thing to do in such a case. Make adjustments to the budget to help your business and your team perform better through outsourcing. Lead generation and marketing services can unload the burden and allow your teams to focus on their core competencies.
